Free-to-download recordings of lute, vihuela,theorbo and early guitar performed by Rob MacKillop.

“We are entering a new era of the listening experience, one which many record companies are struggling to understand and keep up with. The CD concept of 60 to 70 -minute programmes centered around a single composer or manuscript no longer seems relevant to the new download culture. As a performer I try to look upon the positive aspects of this new relationship between artist and listener. I take my cue from old lute and guitar manuscripts which often contain music from various sources and for a variety of instruments. I can even upload various versions of the same piece (see, for instance, three versions of Mille Regretz on the vihuela page).

As a listener I was often frustrated over the difficulty of finding and ordering non-mainstream recordings of lutes, vihuelas, etc, and once located, having to pay shipping costs, import duty, etc on top. As a performer, I have been frustrated over the inability of the record companies to get the 'product' on the shelves, not just around the world, but even within my own city.

I have decided to make any future recordings at home, with immediate upload to this website. I can record whatever I want, whenever I feel moved to, and have it online within minutes. I hope the listener will appreciate the immediacy of the performances as much as their easy access online.

I have also decided to use the absolute minimum of editing. Few listeners are aware that many lute CDs contain over 100 edits, sometimes many hundreds. The technology in advanced studios - and increasingly so in the home studio - allows for the most microscopic changes to notes, finger noise, tuning, etc, etc. It is the view of many that this is leading to a false image of the performer as being technically perfect, and ultimately the recording lacks the immediacy of a genuine performance. All the recordings on this site are single takes. If I do make a very noticeable mistake, for example in a piece with an A and a B section, I will, without stopping, repeat the entire section. I then extract the whole section with the offending note. By this method, the listener hears the same performance, same tuning and tempo. Small errors are not subject to any editing. It is my hope that the listener will appreciate this method. Comments welcome.

“From our humble beginnings more than a decade ago as a small, one-man operation in a garage, to our current standing as the world’s largest online distributor of indie music, CD Baby has always been a company run BY musicians FOR musicians. Inside the fortified walls of our warehouse (a virtual Wonka-world of music) in rainy Portland, Oregon, we listen to every single album we carry before it is posted for sale so that we can help you find other new artists you’ll love, too. No distributors. No major labels. We only sell music that musicians send us directly. We ship CDs from our warehouse. We sell downloads from our site. And we also deliver our artists’ music to other download retailers, as well (iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, and many more.) We sell you the music and then we pay the artist right away. Cool thing: in a regular record deal or distribution deal, musicians only make $1-$2 per album, if they’re ever lucky enough to get paid by their label at all. When selling through CD Baby, musicians make $6-$12 per album and get paid weekly. ..“

“Heartistry Music began as one struggling musicial artist trying to help other struggling artist friends. I had just finished a new CD and, when the web was still quite new, decided to offer it to the public via the world wide web. Thinking that one little CD looked pretty puny all by itself I decided to invite all of my musician friends in the area to post their products as well. They gladly accepted, and Heartistry Music was born.

After numerous inquiries I saw the need for a formal music label. So, now, Heartistry Music is a music distribution and publishing company and record label dedicated to marketing quality recordings by independent artists. We are currently focusing on artists who reside in the north Midwest area encompassing the south shore of Lake Superior and beyond. All products listed here are of the highest quality, great listening, and they are guaranteed.

When you purchase products from Heartistry Music the proceeds will go directly to that artist. For ordering information, and to view our return policy, please see our Contact page. In addition to CD sales, concert booking for all artists listed on this site can be done through Heartistry Music. We also offers music typesetting and CD duplication services For comments or suggestions on our site please Contact us.

This web page intends to make recordings of the traditional French music of central France available to people in North America. It is a shame that some of the best acoustic music in the world, that of central France, is unknown and unavailable here in the US and Canada. I would like you to discover this music and come to love it.

Some of the recordings listed here are for sale by me (Mitch), others are sold by other individuals or (in one case) an organization. Ordering instructions and an order form are provided for the recordings from each source. Specifically, the recordings are purchased from four sources (one in France, three in California), each with its own order form.”

"Musística is a site where you can enjoy classical music videos on YouTube without going astray into genres you don't care about. You will also have a handy list of recordings that you can buy at our affiliate partners related to the videos you are watching. The advantage over watching them directly in YouTube is that we provide all classical music all the time."

“With the Internet continuing to overtake high street stores as the leading source for purchasing specialist classical music, UK family mail order company, MDT Classics has evolved with the times; shaping its firm to meet the needs of enthusiasts and collectors and continually receiving praise from major international record labels, while embracing the classical music industry’s technological advancement.

From its roots as a small, highly specialist, family run classical music shop in Derby’s historic Blacksmith’s Yard, MDT Classics has grown over a period of 15 years to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of classical CD’s, DVD’s and SACD’s, with an extensive catalogue of over 65,000 titles. …“

Many thought you had to be a little naïve to launch a record label just when digital music and hi-tech began their ascent.

Could there be a life beyond wi-fi, the web and MP3s?

As you can see, a few diehard music lovers still believe in beautiful packages, the smell of freshly-printed paper, booklets you spend hours admiring, the beauty a human voice and a few strums on a guitar.

In short, there are still traditional craftsmen, who take their time and let talent grow on its own terms. Between classical music, pop, world, jazz, children’s music, books or DVDs… nothing scares us…“

“The Chandos label boasts over 1700 titles which cover the length and breadth of the musical spectrum.

Quite apart from the quality of performances and sound for which Chandos is renowned, the company has pioneered the idea of the 'series' which allows a composer's work to be appreciated through a range of recordings: such series include the Tchaikovsky Symphonies, Dvorák Symphonies & Tone Poems, Strauss Tone Poems, Prokofiev Symphonies & Concertos, Parry Symphonies, Tippett Symphonies, the Respighi cycle and, of course, the mammoth Walton edition.

In 1994 Chandos launched the New Direction series. The repertoire presented is contemporary and in some cases avant garde with composers such as Reich, Nørgård, Schnittke, Tavener, Leifs and Yoshimatsu represented. Such composers have a crossover appeal to the larger market place. Chandos will now develop the series to explore contemporary music in its many forms. ”

“BIS Records was founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr, with the aim of helping world-class Swedish musicians to reach international audiences. Starting out with a Revox tape-recorder, two state-of-the-art microphones and a pair of non-magnetic scissors he immediately impressed connoisseurs by the natural sound of his recordings, and single-handedly built up a catalogue that could be exported all over the world.

Now in its 35th year, BIS is a flourishing and much respected label with more than 1.400 titles in stock – the only large record label to keep all its recordings constantly available. Going against the trend of the classical music business, BIS is expanding in various ways. With its present staff of 14 – including no less than six recording producers – BIS has become a leading player, yearly undertaking some 60 productions recorded all over the world: from Brazil to Japan, from Iceland to Australia. …”

“In 1989 Chandos launched its early music label - Chaconne - which set out to present a cross section of early-music repertoire from Medieval to Classical, peformed on original or period instruments.

The recordings, which now number well over 100 titles, are of a consistently high standard in both performance and sound recording.

In terms of artistic direction, the Chaconne label has been able to offer mainstream composers such as J.S. Bach, Handel and Vivaldi as well as less-familiar composers including Leclair, Albinoni and Telemann. Chaconne recordings have a very international appeal above and beyond the many early-music enthusiasts here in the UK.“

“Signum Records is fuelled by the passion to produce great music recorded with integrity and creativity at the highest level.

Signum is a privately-owned and steadily-growing record label that benefits from the commitment and services of its sister company, Floating Earth, the leading production and engineering specialist service provider in Europe.

Having started the label in 1997 Signum now boasts a catalogue of nearly 300 titles and many of which are award winners, nominees or five star review recipients from around the world.

The small Signum team strives to provide a first class service at all times with clients, artists, suppliers and colleagues. Signum works with new and emerging artists and composers through to established artists, making available much-loved areas of repertoire as well as previously unheard, innovative recordings.”

“Devine Music was re-launched in 2009 as a webshop for recordings and publications featuring, or relating to, the use of historically informed instruments and performing practice. The idea is to provide a forum for specialists and experts in the field to offer their work to discerning customers and receive appropriate remuneration.

The site is programmed, run and maintained by harpsichordist Steven Devine

The philosophy is simple: devinemusic.co.uk is a searchable catalogue with online shop facilities. When a disc is purchased, an email is sent to the artist responsible who is then responsible for packaging and sending the disc (no more sale-or-return!). Two very small administrative costs are incurred - the credit card processing and the web-site maintenance. Typically the artist receives 85% of the retail price of the disc AND retains stock control.”

“Welcome to Rose Street Records. We are a boutique record label specialising in early music, unusual repertoire and rarely or previously unrecorded works. Rose Street Records was set up by Laura Justice, herself a professional recorder player, in 2010 to provide a platform for exciting and slightly 'off the beaten track' music projects.”

“Avie Records operates a unique business model based on artist ownership. This model is as robust today as when the label launched in 2002, and allows artists a creative freedom not found at any other label. Run by well-known and respected executives with offices in the UK and the US, Avie combines the flexibility of an independent with the prowess of a major.

Avie was instantly recognised as a trail-blazer by international media and consumers alike. The label has been hailed as “adventurous” (New York Times), “enterprising (Gramophone),” and “admirable” (The Sunday Times – London).

Avie is noted for the strength and creativity of its marketing and promotion strategies, resulting in notable sales successes, including several international chart-topping releases. For our artists we have gained international visibility in the media and the market place, with a worldwide distribution network that extends to over 30 countries. The label was an early convert to the download arena and is universally available at digital download destinations from iTunes to emusic to Classical Archives. …”

“ Today the label is one of the world's leading audiophile labels specialising in classical, jazz and Celtic music. We reproduce our music on CD (or SACD), Vinyl and now as high quality Downloads.

We exist to introduce the broadest range of involving musical experiences to a worldwide audience of discriminating individuals who are on a personal quest of musical ecstasy and enlightenment. The beautiful compositions and artistic performances are perfectly captured by our expert engineers on recordings of unprecedented truth.

There is a whole world of Linn music to explore. The high quality sound reproduction that results from our investment of time and effort means that as a listener you can simply hear more, and hear it more clearly. It can sound uncannily like the musicians are in the room with you. As the true qualities of the music are more audible, music that you never thought would move you starts to make sense, and its seductive power can be tremendous. Please have a listen to our music and judge for yourselves. Sound clips are available on all the album pages. “

The title is an italian expression whose literal translation is “The Harpsichord Room of the Dear Saxon”. Since, for historical reasons, the term “Dear Saxon” was used in Italy to refer to the composer Georg Friedrich Händel (much less for the other “saxon”, Johann Adolph Hasse), therefore we can reformulate as “The Handel's Harpsichord Room”. …

How this project was born?

The initial goal was to create a set of web-pages, freely available to everyone via streaming, to publish harpsichord music recorded on a regular basis. It can appears that the most difficult task here is to find a professional harpsichordist who accepts to share his recordings for non-profit, but just for “popularizing the Baroque Music for the Harpsichord”. However, that task was as easy as to create the web-site, because one of the original promoters is a harpsichordist with a relevant background as a performer, as well as teacher and composer. He is Fernando De Luca, which founded the project in late 2006 together with the co-founder “Zadok”, his friend, engineer and baroque music lover. …”

“It's been almost 15 years since ATMA Classique was created. Based in Montreal, ATMA welcomes musicians from Canada and from the four corners of the world. Our CDs are distributed in more than 25 countries, and are available on-line worldwide.

There are now more than 300 titles in our catalogue, and they span a broad spectrum from medieval to contemporary music, with multiple detours along the way into traditional and world music, tango and popular song, and experimental music. At ATMA,we like to surprise, dazzle, and take artistic risks.

What inspires us is simply our passion for recording sound, and for sharing, both through the traditional medium of the disc and through cyberspace, our acoustic images of imagined worlds.”

“ALIA VOX The performer's voice Since its creation in 1998 ALIA VOX has developed its role as the exclusive producer and publisher of all new recordings by Hesprion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations, Montserrat Figueras & Jordi Savall. The ALIA VOX 2011 catalogue presents the various productions carried out over these first 12 years: 80 titles from an exceptionally wide repertoire, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day, including such legendary productions as the soundtrack of Alain CorneauÕs film Tous les matins du monde, all of which are carried out with the unfailing collaboration of the most outstanding performers currently specialising in these repertoires. The extraordinary success of ALIA VOX, with sales numbering more than 2.000.000 CDs to date (December, 2005) and a large distribution network covering more than 45 countries around the world, has been possible thanks to an intense programme of concerts, together with a warm reception from the record-buying public and music critics alike. …”

“A recently created performers’ Label (2002), CDM was launched by the Valencian viola da gamba performer and musicologist Carles Magraner, who also founded the famous Capella de Ministrers ensemble in 1988, dedicated mainly to Spanish music from the Middle Ages to the pre-classical period. In addition to the reediting of the group’s previous recordings issued on other labels, CDM also presents the group’s latest recordings.“

“Carpe Diem Records is a creative German record label specialized in Early Music. On this website you can find music samples, pictures and other interesting information about our CD releases. All CDs can be ordered fast and easily in our online shop.”

“ANALEKTA is a Greek word which can be translated as "a collection of the finest works". Since the inception of the company in 1988, founder and President François Mario Labbé and his team of dedicated people have worked diligently to represent its corporate name.

ANALEKTA has become the largest independent classical record company in Canada. Being the recipient of many distinguished prizes, notably for the quality of its recordings and the rigorous musicianship of its artists, ANALEKTA has earned a reputation of excellence on the international music scene. The company is now considered a benchmark within the Canadian music industry and a true gem of Canadian culture.

ANALEKTA, the Quebec recording company specializing in classical music, was founded with the goal of becoming one of Canada's leading record labels. The driving force behind the label has always been its musicians, exceptional artists who would become ANALEKTA's guarantee of excellence. Over the years, the label has therefore developed an association with the country's finest musicians and musical organizations. ANALEKTA's recordings equal fine interpretations, originality and excellence.

Each year, ANALEKTA releases no less than 30 classical recordings featuring the greatest Canadian musicians. Over the years, ANALEKTA has produced over 400 titles with more than 200 artists. The level of excellence of its artists, combined with the determination of its management and its entire team have created an enviable reputation and a first-rate image for the company, both at home and abroad.

Though its focus remains classical music, ANALEKTA continues to seek new talent and promote Canadian musicians. Embracing a new array of genres to widen its musical horizons, ANALEKTA's catalogue now includes World Music, Jazz and Movie Soundtracks, making music accessible to music aficionados with eclectic taste.

ANALEKTA's "selection of the finest works" featuring the finest Canadian musicians continues to flourish. More than ever, ANALEKTA's name is synonymous with excellence. ”

“Without fear of the alleged crisis of the international music industry, the label Alqhai & Alqhai is born as a determined commitment to quality, from the philosophy of taking absolute care of every stage of our CDs production and making. From the very first step —the artistic conception of a program, through its development and rehearsals, sound recording, edition, design, quality standards choice until, finally, public launching, every Alqhai & Alqhai production is treated with the love that only an artist can feel for his own creation. We want to to fulfill a wish: that our public had in his hands and ears a true piece of art, not determined by the market rules”